Someone Like Me
by SniperCT
Summary: In a reality where mutants have hide who they are to protect their lives, those that pass as human try to have as normal of lives as possible. Kitty runs into a southern girl on the subway and discovers that maybe she doesn't have to be alone.
1. Scarves

"Yuh gonna just stare or do ya got somethin' to say?"

I blink my eyes when I realize I'd been staring off into space. The woman standing across from me has her hands on her hips. There's a white streak in her auburn hair and she's got this sassy little smile on full lips.

My brain, naturally, goes right to wondering what they'd taste like, but Kitty you really need to reel yourself in.

"Uh. Sorry. My mind was elsewhere, I wasn't staring, I swear!" But I kinda wanted to now. She's wearing a tight tank top with a v-neck that goes way down, and over that a dark, see-through top that covers all of her skin.

"Uh huh. Now _why_ do I not believe that, sugar?" The woman folds her arms and it's a struggle to keep my eyes on the green ocean of hers. I feel positively ordinary next to her. Even her _accent_ is sexy. I can't quite place it. Mississippi or Georgia maybe.

The subway car is pulling to a stop, and it's my exit. I look at my watch, then at the doors are they open. I decide to just go for it. Life is for adventure right? "Can I buy you a coffee?"

The woman's expression falters, like she wasn't expecting me to ask something like that and she doesn't know how to deal with it. It makes me want to know more about her.

"I uh...sure. Why not."

* * *

We're walking towards this place I know, and I hold out my hand while I adjust my scarf with the other. "I'm Kitty."

"Anna." She shakes my hand and for the first time I notice the gloves. She's got this revealing shirt but all of her skin below her neck is covered. I'm now really curious, but I need to get her seated before I start prying. Because I'm gonna pry.

"Do ya always pick up strange women on the subway?" She gives me this playful smirk as we take our seats in the cafe.

"It's a hobby of mine, buying coffee for a pretty lady." One of my friends once accused me of having sexual tension with everything, up to and including houseplants. Right now I'm just hoping I'm not misreading signals. I've got enough secrets without embarrassing myself.

"Well I ain't impressed yet."

"Give me some time."

I walk Anna home. She's funny and snarky, both things I value in a friend, and when I take her hand she lets me. She lives in a run-down apartment a few blocks away from mine, and we stand awkwardly in front of the door. She searches for her keys while I search her eyes. We're both lonely. I don't need her to tell me that she is.

"Kitty," She says. "Thanks. I haven't really gotten to spend much time with people these days. I kinda have to be a shut in an' it's real nice to act like a person again."

She jerks away when I lift my hand to her cheek. "Don't! Don't touch me!"

"Why not?" I step forward, putting my hands on her shoulders and rubbing at them. Her skin is warm beneath the fabric and Anna lets off a strangled sound. "I'm not gonna hurt you…"

"Ain't what I'm worried 'bout," she whispers. "I'm worried 'bout hurtin' ya, sug."

"I'm tougher than I look. Anna, what's wrong?"

She rests her hands on my waist and her eyes scan my lips. "Ain't had no one to hold me in as long as I can remember, now. I got this...skin condition an' I don't want ya to get hurt."

"Your skin looks fantastic." I lean in again, close enough to give her a hint, close enough for our breath to mingle, but I don't force it past that. I want to see how she reacts.

"I'm..I'm...oh mah god I want to kiss you." She brings up a hand and presses her fingers between our lips. "But really, I can't an' if I told you why… well ya wouldn't want to be around me an' the last person I told nearly got me arrested."

"I'll trade you. A secret for a secret. I know you don't want to trust me, but unless you're planning on hurting people I'm good at keeping secrets." I moved my hands down her arms, and rested them at her elbows. "Please."

"I'm one of them." She lowered her voice, even though there couldn't possibly be anyone around us to hear. "A mutant, sugar. Mah skin kinda...drains people, I can't control it."

My thumbs rubbed in reassuring circles, before I lifted up a finger, and then phased it into her shoulder. "I'm one too."

Her mouth forms a little O shape. "Well damn! An' here I was all ready to bolt."

* * *

It's a dangerous thing to admit, being a mutant. If you're lucky you get arrested. If you're unlucky they put you in The Pit. If you've got something really useful, then you get the special treatment. The two of us both have something useful. I can walk through walls, and Anna? She can apparently pick up memories as well as life force.

We snuggle on her couch. There's a lot to say, too much for the moment so we put it off. I lift my scarf up and dangle it in front of her face. "It's light. It's thin…but it'll stop skin contact."

"Smart girl," she breathes, and both of her gloves hands slide into my blouse as she kisses me through the scarf.

"Anna…" Oh she has no idea how clever I am. I poke a finger against her cheek. The shock is quick and sharp. I like it. I like it a lot. Nothing like a little bit of danger to spice things up.

She hisses at me, "Kitty! Oh." Her eyes suddenly grow wide and her face turns red. "Oh mah lord. Those are some really amazin' ideas an' I do believe you're goin' to end up killin' me."

The redhead suddenly flips me onto my back and I come to the conclusion that she's probably going to kill me too. She isn't the only one who's been alone for a long time.

Anna takes the scarf, pushing my shirt up and trailing it over my skin, feathering kisses as she goes. Her hair is so soft against my stomach, and I reach down to take her hand. She looks up at me, and her eyes are as wet as mine. Her voice wavers. "Kitty, can ya stay tonight?"

"Yeah…" I say, fighting a quiver in my lips. "I'll stay as long as you need me to."


	2. Headphones

**(Part of an exercise where I had people suggest prompts. An item, a location, and a time of day. Item: Headphones. Time: Evening. Location: Park. Continuation of the universe established in chapter 1.)**

* * *

Kitty's hair is just a joy to play with. It's got all these curls and it's so fluffy. And oh my lord she loves when I touch it. Like she really does purr. Which is good, cuz it's the only place on her I _can_ touch without hurting her. Not that she minds sometimes. I think she gets off a little on the pain. And it makes me a bit smarter when it happens which ain't that bad a trade-off.

I dunno how I lucked out. Just a random meeting on a train. There she was, this beautiful brown-eyed angel staring right at me. It's real dangerous to trust these days. The accident of birth (and see that's something Kitty would say) that forces me to keep a wall up against the world also makes me kind of a prime target for extermination. I always kept to my lonesome, but Kitty, she's lost everyone she was ever close to.

Staying cooped up is for the birds, though. Long as we're together and not obviously looking like mutants we can move through the city unmolested. Just the usual creeps, catcalling at two ladies holding hands. And damn, I _won't_ let them have that. They already make me hide who I _am_, I ain't gonna hide who I _love_.

It ain't even too soon for love, not when tomorrow she could be taken from me. She's got this morbid sense of humor, but I don't think she was joking when she said she'd need a purple triangle, yellow star and a red X to wear at the rate things are going. It's depressing to think about. Kitty ain't that far off the mark.

I look down at the back of her head, then kiss her there. "Why is the internet so slow, anyhow?"

"I'm running a dozen proxies and programs to keep the government sniffers off of our trail," she explains. She twists around to look at me. "Why are you asking me that now?"

"Cuz it just occurred to me." Kitty scoots closer and I pull her into my lap. We've got the shade of a big oak tree, and we're alone except for some kids playing soccer on the other side of the field. "I dunno."

She reaches into the pocket of her hoodie and pulls out her iPod. She holds out an earbud for me and I put it in my ear. Kitty takes the other. I roll my eyes at the track playing. "What in the _hell's kitchen_ is that?"

"It's called the Ramones."

"We're too young for the Ramones!"

"An ex got me into them." She shrugs her shoulder and fiddles with her playlist. "Kind of a prickly guy. I dated him while I was in England."

"Good gawd, if yuh were in England why in the world would yuh ever wanna come back here? Ain't they a bit more enlightened when it comes to ...yuh know." _Mutants._

Kitty shakes her head at me, twisting around again so we can see eye to eye. "I'd be safer there. But I couldn't live with myself. Knowing I had friends here who were suffering." I can see the bitterness in her eyes before it even reaches her voice. "I couldn't even do anything from here except watch them all die. And now it's almost impossible to immigrate. They aren't taking asylum any more, and I never did get the dual-citizenship I wanted."

Leaving the country sounds like such a great idea. But I don't know if I can really run away. Turn my back and give up. Kitty's choice makes a lot more sense now that I think about it. We're both stubborn as fuck. I love that about her.

A song comes on from her playlist, and I stop her hand before she changes it. It's something I didn't even know that Kitty had on her iPod. A song about two people, holding onto each other while everything burns and goes to hell around them. It's personal, to both of us. The whole fucking world just moves on while mutants like us just try to sneak under the radar. We're the lucky ones. Some poor boy with green skin ain't gonna have near as easy a time.

This song just hits me right in the feels. I don't like showing off emotion. Unless it's pissed off, then I'll show that off everywhere I go. But it's making me cry, and the way Kitty is looking at me is making me cry harder and god I just want to touch her and to kiss her. It _ain't fair_! We're all we got left for each other and I want to feel her skin. I don't even need any of the kinky little tricks she's come up with to give us something resembling a sex life. Just a few minutes to touch her without hurtin' her. That's _all_ I ask. It don't even have to be _intimate_.

Kitty's lips press into mine and I'm cravin' it so much I don't stop her. Her thoughts and emotions flood my head. A fierce protectiveness, and an overwhelming passion that makes me dizzy. Kitty is an emotional person. Everything flows under the surface like an underground rapid. Most of the time she keeps it in check, but it's drowning my own mind out and I have to stop it before I lose her.

She sags against me when I break the kiss, and my heart starts to crumble under the assault of her feelings and the _terror_ that starts to rip through me when she doesn't move.

"Kitty..? Kitty! _Kate!_ Come on, don't do this to me. Oh gawd…"

"Mmokay." The words are real quiet, coming on an exhaled breath. I cradle her gentle like and tilt her head up, prying her eyelids open. Her eyes swivel to look at me, and they're a little out of focus but she's awake. That was too long, that was too close and the damning part is I let her do it. I was so desperate I coulda killed her.

The Kitty in my head tries to comfort me, and it makes me less panicked, but it's mostly the woman in my arms not being comatose that helps. I've had time to process how she feels about me and tears start flowing down my cheeks all over again. "I love yuh too, not gonna let yuh go, sugar…but we ain't doin' that again anytime soon."

"I like playing with fire." She can keep her eyes open now, without my help, so I give her a scorching look.

"Ain't funny." My voice shakes and I don't like that feeling none. "Ain't funny, yuh don't even understand. Yuh can't do that to me!"

"Shh...shsshhh..." She moves to pat my cheek, but I move my head and her hand lands on my shoulder instead. "Just playing. Just...needed that... okay? We both needed that. It's not like you haven't zapped me before when you needed some quick computer training."

"That's _different!_ And you _know_ it!" I'm starting to get angry and I gotta reign in my temper before them soccer players notice us locking horns. Kitty's iPod is playing something with a rocking beat and it's making me jumpy.

I lean down, two fingers over Kitty's lips, and kiss her that way. "Can we _not_ make everythin' more dangerous than it already is?"

How serious I am finally gets through to her and she kinda sobers up. Kitty wraps her arms around my shoulders and squeezes. "I'm sorry. I just wanted..."

"I know, sugar. I wanted it too. But it's something we can't have, an' we done left our scarves at home." That ain't the same either, but it's better than gloves.

"Moira would be able to help." Kitty sighs. She looks less punch drunk and can sit up on her own now. If I let her. I ain't gonna let her go for awhile yet. "Help you find a way to control it. But Scotland might as well be on the moon right now."

"Then we don't need to worry 'bout that, or get mah hopes up." The more we talk about it, the more it hurts. I change the subject. "Now I know yuh ain't admittin' nothin' yet, but yuh kinda did in mah head. Does that make us more than just friends with benefits?"

"Yeah..." Her throat bobs as she swallows. "I love you."

It does me a world of wonder, hearing that from her and not from her memories, or the little copy of her that runs free in my head. "We're gonna go back to your place, an' I'm gonna lay yuh down an' yuh gonna rest an' enjoy what I do to you."

"Sounds like my kind of plan." Some gears are turning in Kitty's head. I can see them, and the little smoke coming out of her ears, almost.

She must have caught me looking cuz she just gives me a little smirk.

"...What is it, Kitty?"

"Nothing. Just calculating the logistics of moving you into my place."


	3. Promises

"We gotta do something."

I don't like the sound of that. Kitty is staring at the tv, her fists balled up so tightly they might as well be white.

"We aren't doing anything." I reach over, and pry her fingers apart. "Calm down there ain't nothin' we can do."

"Scott Summers, revolutionary," she mutters. And it really is a strange sight to see Cyclops on the tube acting like he's starting some kinda rebellion. He used to always be the voice of reason when he was on the tv, but that was before things got so bad. It's even stranger to see Logan out there with him. It's a bad idea. A real bad idea. But it sounds like something they'd do. Kitty and I never crossed paths before we met on the train. But we both knew Logan. Seems like everyone knew Logan.

I can see the fire sparking in Kitty's eyes and I ain't sure I can put it out. It scares the shit out of me. We been living together for a few months now, and I've gotten used it. It's easier. Two to share the load, and both of us look normal so it ain't like we're gonna get rounded up and put in The Pit as long as we're real careful. "Kitty…"

She looks over at me, then down at where I'm still holding her hands. "Those are our friends out there. I thought some of them were _dead_. And…" She lowers her head. "I don't know if I can sit here like a coward. I came back to the states to help. I just..."

"Nothin' ya can do, sugar. Come here." I pull her over and into my arms. Kitty moves her head, careful to avoid skin contact. Having her so close is always like torture. I can't touch her. And I want to so so bad. But she says it doesn't bother her, that with toys and scarves and other things we can still get all intimate. 'Course when she says stuff like that I turn all kinda red and then she looks at me like she's a cat and I'm her canary.

I want to zap her when she says that. To see if she's lying. But I just have to trust her. Trust her to tell me when it does bother her. Trust her to not take off when she gets tired of not being able to feel my skin. Now I gotta trust her not to go and do something stupid without me. Least she can do is let me take part in the stupid.

"What are we going to do?" She asks, suddenly. I pull my head back and look at her.

"What do ya mean?"

"The government won't take this well. They'll crack down. More checkpoints, more scans. They'll probably raid the mutantowns. The _lucky_ ones'll end up in The Pit or the camps."

There's fear in her voice. I can't blame her. Camps, mutant ghettos, experimentation. She's Jewish, it's something scarred into the collective memory of her people. I still ain't able to believe that she came _back_. She came back to help her friends. She watched them die and she still wakes up screaming on the nights that I don't. Suddenly, I think that maybe I'm gonna end up losing her. "We can't start panicking yet. I ain't gonna and I know ya ain't gonna neither."

Kitty nods, and she starts to calm down. I love that about her. Swallowing her fears. Like she's ready to take on all comers but when we're alone and it's just us she ain't gonna shy away from her emotions. I rub at her back, and sink down farther on the couch. "So here's what we're gonna do. We're gonna lay low for a couple days. Keep doing everythin' normal. Don't want people to get suspicious. But we'll want to pack a couple bags in case we gotta scoot. Maybe do some shoppin'."

"Different stores. Don't want people to start asking why we're stocking up on essentials. And I love how you say the word scoot."

I pointedly ignore her comment on my vocabulary. "I don't see why it matters. Figure there'll be a run on some things because people'll be panicking over the 'mutant uprising.'"

She eyes me, and then smiles. "Fair enough."

"Kitty." I brush aside strands of her amazing hair. "Are ya gonna contact them?"

She looks away and shrugs her shoulders. "I don't know. I know if I try right now the government'll be all over us. I'll have to be more subtle. I just want them to know we're okay."

"Ain't trying to get recruited?" The more I think about it, the more the idea sounds good. I already know I can't turn my back on our people. But am I really doing a lick of good staying in the shadows while people suffer? I think that's the scariest part. I can see the decision coming like a tornado bearing down on us. She's too much like me to sit back and do nothing. Not if there was a shred of hope. It ain't right. It ain't fair. Somewhere out there maybe there's a world where we met and the worse problems we face are who gets to sleep closer to the wall.

"Anna." She looks at me like she's afraid of what I'm gonna say or do. Like if she's gonna do something she'll end up doing it alone. She looks like she's sorry that she's gonna ruin something good.

I shush her with a finger over her lips. "We'll talk about it later. Just promise if ya gonna do something stupid ya tell me first so I can be stupid too?" God. I guess domestic bliss isn't really in the cards, is it? She moves into my lap, straddling me. I just have to rub her legs. They're muscular, a dancer's legs. She keeps fit, she still trains. I wake up most mornings to her contorting into some kind of weird ninja shape. I'd be lying if I said watching her hadn't gotten me to work on some of the pudge I'd put around my belly. Probably a good thing now. Because we're gonna do something stupid.

"Promise."

Any day police could bust down our door and take us away. And if we do this stupid thing, this stupid thing where we actually fight back…And I don't care if it's too fast. I could lose her tomorrow and she's the first thing that's given me any kinda sanity in this whole world. I don't say it out loud, but I promise something too. If she'll have it, I'm gonna put a ring on her finger.


End file.
